My baby finally had her first haircut at just shy of 3 1/2 years old! I took all three of the girls to Bellini Salon and Harper was to go after both Emerson and Avery. She was very excited to be getting a haircut; however, her excitement quickly turned to fear as it was her turn to get her hair washed. 
Instead of a shampoo, we settled on a spray bottle to wet her hair. Once she got in the chair to get her hair cut, she did great.
It is still long…we just trimmed the ends and it looks much healthier. And afterwards…we celebrated with Dairy Queen ice cream cones!
Monthly Archives: January 2017
Lincoln Memorial and MLK Memorial
We’ve been trying to take the girls to DC more the past few years as there is so much history and sights to take advantage of visiting. So often when we go to DC, we go near the Washington Monument and stay within the general vicinity as the girls aren’t as enthused about walking mass distances as much as Justin and I are. The last time we went to DC, I knew that the next time I wanted to visit the Lincoln Memorial. I don’t know that I had ever seen first hand (at least from what I can remember) the famous view of the wading pool and the monument from the steps of The Lincoln Memorial (I know…slightly embarrassing being that I am 37 and have lived in Northern Virginia my entire life). Anyway, so we went today finally….we drove and parked with ease. I didn’t give any thought to the upcoming inauguration and how the view that I had been longing to see would be obstructed by massive amounts of scaffolding in preparation for this coming weekend’s inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. 
A different angle allowed for a slightly less obstructed view. 
Despite the obstructed view, it was really cool to see all the preparation going into the inauguration. Avery and Emerson are starting to learn about Presidents and U.S. history at school and they both were adamant that they wanted to come to the city again Friday to participate in the inauguration. Avery was very excited to get her picture taken with Abraham Lincoln so that she could show her teacher. 
Avery also wanted her picture with Mommy to show her teacher.
Emerson was moody off and on and if she was going to participate in any pictures, it was going to be on her own terms.
Although once Avery wanted her picture with me, she suddenly felt like she might just not want to miss out….although, she still clearly wanted to get her point across.
Meanwhile, Harper was sitting in the stroller where she refused to get out for much of our time in D.C. (If you look real closely above Avery’s head in the above picture, you can see her sitting in the stroller….our only picture of her today). I also only captured one photo of Justin.
Our next stop was The Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. The girls learned about MLK at school this week since tomorrow is MLK Day. It amazes me to hear them explain who he was and what he represented. Clearing they are taking everything in that they learn at school and it amazes me and makes me so happy to hear them explain U.S. history and all the other things they are learning at school. Anyway, the MLK Memorial is about a 12 minute walk from the Lincoln Memorial; however, Justin and I are both directionally challenged so we managed to turn it into about a 35 to 40 minute walk. Emerson wasn’t impressed and she kept track of how many times Justin and I took a wrong turn. While the day was enjoyable, this was a weak moment for me as I let my frustration get the best of me and I was taking it on Justin and the girls. I realized it though and was able to snap out of it pretty quickly but I shouldn’t have even let it get to that point. Forty minutes later we finally found the MLK Memorial where again Avery wanted her picture with MLK by herself so she could show her teacher. 
We ate a late lunch (close to 2:30) afterwards at Potbelly’s, where the girls even got to have dessert as a special treat. We took our time eating and were home by 4:00 AND Justin, Emerson, and I took a nap for an hour after we got home while Avery and Harper quietly played together! It was a great day and I can’t wait to go back to DC again soon.
First Snow of the Season
Saturday morning was the first snow of the season. In total it probably snowed only an inch, maybe two, but it was enough for the girls to go out and play and even do a little sledding. We watched the snow falling through the kitchen window while we were eating breakfast and the excitement in their faces and bodies was palpable. We bundled the girls up. Avery and Emerson’s snow suits from last year still fit and I somehow managed to get Harper into the size 18 months snow suit that she has been wearing the last two years once Avery and Emerson got their current snowsuits and she got their hand me downs. Speaking of hand me downs; Harper wore Avery’s snow boots from last year, Avery wore Emerson’s snow boots from last year and Emerson got snow boots for Christmas. The girls realize hand me downs are a norm in our house for certain items and they not only accept it, but Harper is thrilled when something of Avery’s and Emerson’s finally becomes all hers!
After bundling the girls up, I was sure that someone would have to go to the bathroom shortly thereafter. I was wrong. They played outside for probably two hours. They swept the street, made snow angels, played with a Christmas tree that a neighbor had set out for the trash, and went sledding. 
Justin and I were outside with them and we managed to walk up and down the street repeatedly while they were entertaining themselves, allowing us to actually get a decent workout in despite not going to the gym that morning. It was awesome to realize they are getting more independent but also made us realize they are growing up so quickly….too quickly sometimes! They had a great time playing and it was so much fun watching the excitement they were having playing in the snow.